TOXIC EFFECTS OF INDUCED SODIUM ARSENITE ON THE OVARY OF SWISS ALBINO MICE

*Shailendra Kumar and Preety Sinha

ABSTRACT

Arsenic is an environmental pollutant, which can damage reproductive health and causes disruption of the ovary, quality of ova, decreased ova production and infertility in mice and human. Arsenic creates more and more reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the ovary. The present work provides a detailed analysis of contamination of arsenic in Bihar and further may help to check the main root causes of cancer. Female Swiss albino mice (Mus musculus) were selected as the experimental animals. In the treatment group 1.8 mg/kg body weight sodium arsenite and in control group distilled water was given orally by gavage method daily for8 weeks. After the treatment mice were sacrificed and the ovary and blood samples were collected. The effects were assessed by estimating blood arsenic level, serum CA 125 level, LPO level, antioxidant enzymes activity, the apoptotic index in % and histopathological parameters. Sodium arsenite treated group showed no effects on CA 125 in mice blood, LPO level was significantly (p < 0.0001) increased, whereas antioxidant enzymes (SOD & CAT) activity were significantly (p < 0.0001 & p < 0.01) decreased as compared to the control group. Apoptotic index was significantly (p < 0.0001) higher in arsenic treated mice compared with control. Sodium arsenite treated group showed vacuolized corpus luteum and ruptured germinal epithelium with Graafian follicle in comparison with the histology of control mice ovary. Our results suggest that sodium arsenite toxicity adversely affected cells of the ovary; caused DNA damage and altered the oxidative stress along with antioxidant enzymes.

Keywords: Sodium arsenite, Ovary, Oxidative stress, Antioxidant enzymes, Apoptosis, Histopathology.